Pep Guardiola will fix City, says unsympathetic Liverpool boss Arne Slot

Liverpool manager Arne Slot felt no sympathy for rival boss Pep Guardiola after his high-flying side piled on the misery for fading champions Manchester City.

An early strike from Cody Gakpo and a second-half Mohamed Salah penalty at Anfield condemned City to a fourth successive Premier League defeat and put the Reds in firm command at the top.

The 2-0 win was a potentially telling blow to City's hopes of retaining the title, with Guardiola’s team now trailing Liverpool by 11 points and having failed to win in seven in all competitions.

It is the worst run of Guardiola’s glittering career but given the Spaniard’s past successes – 18 trophies with City alone – Slot expects him to come bouncing back.

The Dutchman said: "You feel sympathy or empathy with the managers in a really bad place, they have lost many games or are down at the bottom of the league.

"But Pep has won so many things and shown so many times already – the league is not decided in November or December, so no-one has to feel empathy or sorry for Pep. Maybe other managers, but not Pep.

"He will be able to bring City back."

Liverpool now have a nine-point lead over second-placed Arsenal but Slot, who also oversaw a momentous victory over Real Madrid in midweek, is not getting carried away.

He said: "Playing against Real Madrid and Manchester City – teams that have been and are so good with managers that have won so many trophies – it is always nice to come out as a winner.

"But the reason they have won so much is they won every three days, so while we are really happy with these two wins we know it is not enough to win at the end of the season."

One sour note for Liverpool was the loss of defenders Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate after the Real game.

Slot confirmed